Grizzly bear tests limits of rented lens insurance cover

Photographer Andrew Kane found himself having to report damage to the Nikon D4 he'd rented this weekend, after it was attacked by a grizzly bear. Kane had the presence of mind to document the attack, using his D700 and 70-300VR that he had slung around his neck - grabbing some impressive sharp images of the bear mauling the rented kit. LensRentals seem satisfied with his explanation - Roger Cicala has blogged that replacement gear is already on the way to Kane.

Comments

In 1988 my Leica R3-MOT was smashed and partially eaten by Sasquatch, while I was attending a nature call during my photo camping trip around the Smoky Mountains.I didn't have the chance to record it on film since that was the only camera I had with me.Nobody believed my story. Not then, not now.

No. The name *Tim Treadwell* sprung into my mind several times as I read this article, but fortunately no one was hurt, so we all felt free to post lame bear puns :)On the other hand, it's a great idea to take your most expensive camera and lens and use it as a distraction. Bears seem to feel attracted to expensive gear. I heard next time Andrew Kane will be taking a Leica M9 by Hermés.

it came out of hibernation to see Nikon's latest and greatest, took a sniff and a taste, and thought, bloody hell it looks and tastes same as that old D3s, angrily stomped the heck out of it, and took off to hibernate another 4 more years in anticipation for the next D5 lol :-)

Looks like a small bear to me, about 4' tall. What did you run for? " Two guys are chased by a grizzly bear. First one says" What are we going to do?" the second says "I am going to out run you and hope the bear is happy chewing on you."Old joke.

the bear clearly prefers Nikon, however this does clearly demonstrate that the D4's ergonomics are flawed; clearly it needs an additional battery grip for those of us with unusually large paws (I mean fingers)....

The news item's wording seems to indicate some kind of promotional intent in favour of the lens rental service. The news itself could have been explained with a less promotional flavour. Yet the story was surely worth to be on DPR - also as a good change to the usual - and it caused some entertaining commentary.

Oh, come on... I'm sick and tired of bland wording, people avoiding to praise a product or a service because it could be „promotional”.LensRentals rocks, it's the overwhelming consensus; and the way they acted upon this... no ammount of „promotion” can be enough.

If there were no pictures we'd send him replacement gear. As long as there isn't water in the lens, it's covered. Pictures of the event are a fun bonus, but have nothing to do with replacing the equipment or covering the damage.

Interesting real world test of the Nikon lens Kane used to document the mauling. The dpreview editors should consider including a young grizzly bear in the lens target setup they use for testing new glass. :-P